RAPAPORT. Gemfields clocked its highest auction revenue since March 2016 at a sale of emeralds from its Kagem mine in Zambia amid strong pricing and increased demand.
Revenue from a series of five mini-auctions between March 15 and April 17 reached $31.4 million as 59 companies placed bids, Gemfields said last week.
The miner sold 271,000 carats of emeralds at an average price of $116 per carat, compared to $60 per carat at the previous set of emerald auctions in November and December 2020. The recent sale included finer qualities of emeralds that were not offered at the previous one, Gemfields explained.
Some 97% of lots found buyers, or 99% by carat weight. The company made selected items available for in-person and private viewings in Tel Aviv, Dubai and Jaipur prior to the auction.
RAPAPORT. Firestone Diamonds observed positive pricing in its third fiscal quarter as the company depleted its rough stockpiles amid the continued closure of the Liqhobong mine in Lesotho.
The miner sold the second of two inventory batches that it had been offering to customers as a test of the market’s recovery. Some 19,942 carats of mainly smaller, run-of-mine goods fetched $900,000 at an average price of $47 per carat the highest for that category since June 2018, Firestone said in a trading update last week.
Still, sales for the third quarter ending March 31 were lower than the $3.6 million the company generated in the preceding three months. That period saw Firestone sell a larger parcel containing 43,269 carats, including higher-value special stones that drove an average price of $84 per carat.
RAPAPORT. A number of pieces sold for well above their estimates at the Bonhams London Jewels auction, which garnered a total of GBP 2.7 million ($3.8 million).
A Bulgari ring set with a step-cut, 10.04-carat Colombian emerald bracketed by diamonds was the top seller, fetching GBP 598,750 ($835,223), more than double its GBP 250,000 ($348, 736) high valuation, Bonhams said Wednesday. A ring containing a cushion-shaped, 5-carat ruby surrounded by marquise-cut diamonds went for GBP 200,250 ($279, 364), more than 10 times its GBP 20,000 ($27,902) upper estimate.
Other notable items at the April 28 auction included a 19th-century spinel and diamond necklace and bracelet set, which achieved GBP 187,750 ($261,924), within estimates, and a cushion-shaped, 7.87-carat sapphire and diamond ring, which sold for GBP 92,750 ($129,393) against a GBP 70,000 ($97,655) high valuation.
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RAPAPORT. The dramatic spike in Covid-19 infections in India has injected uncertainty into the diamond market. As the country struggles with the severe humanitarian crisis, the industry has reduced its manufacturing and trading activity significantly.
The rate of new daily coronavirus cases started to rise in mid-March and escalated rapidly. That left hospitals stretched beyond capacity, without enough beds, oxygen or doctors to cope with the unprecedented influx of patients.
The country recorded a world-record number of new cases for several days this month, peaking at 379,459 on April 28, according to the latest data by statistics website Worldometers. In total, more than 18 million people in India have been infected and over 200,000 have died since the pandemic began.